Oct. 16—BEMDIJI — Typically, in the weeks following the Frozen Four, top NCAA women's players have prepared to represent their nations at the IIHF Women's World Championship.
Last year's tournament took place in České Budějovice, Czechia, from April 9-20. The Americans beat Canada 4-3 for the gold medal to cap a historic year of U.S. women's hockey in international play.
The two nations are expected to meet again in the gold medal game for the 23rd time in the last 24 tournaments, dating back to its inception in 1990. However, the tournament will not be in April.
Instead, it was moved to Nov. 6-16, 2026, in Herning and Esbjerg, Denmark. The top collegiate players will be away from their schools for an extended time.
The Bemidji State women's hockey team won't lose any players in November, but its opponents will, including Minnesota Duluth, which will play the Beavers in a WCHA series this weekend at the Sanford Center.
"For us and our program, that doesn't impact players being gone, but it impacts our league," BSU coach Amber Fryklund said. "Any change at any time with anything, there's always going to be a domino effect. It's a huge conversation that's happening and a big concern for college coaches. It's certainly not ideal."
UMD has two of the top players in women's hockey — goaltender Ève Gascon and forward Caitlin Kraemer. The two of them were away in Quebec for Hockey Canada's national team training camp from Oct. 8-14, meaning they missed a WCHA series against St. Thomas. The Bulldogs split with the Tommies last weekend in their first taste of league play this season.
The timing of the Women's World Championship isn't ideal for the NCAA, despite its picturesque lead-in to the Professional Women's Hockey League season, which starts on Dec. 5.
"There are so many entities at play here with the IIHF, the (PWHL), the NCAA," Fryklund said. "Women's college hockey has tried to make the case and voice the concerns. It's very complex with the dates and timing of it all, but college hockey is ... trying to have a voice in this. Especially for the programs with players missing time, the academic side of things is a huge issue. It places a huge weight on the student-athletes for missing classes and the time with their teams."
For the Beavers, though, the task at hand is the Bulldogs. Bemidji State takes a 1-3 record into its second conference series after back-to-back encouraging weekends.
Bemidji State played three close games against No. 3 Minnesota, but fell in each of them. It beat Maine 4-1 at the Minnesota East/West Showcase last weekend.
Of BSU's 11 goals scored this season, only one of them has come from the standout duo of Hailey Armstrong and Morgan Smith. Rather, sophomores Lola Macuiba, Maddie Kaiser and Kasey Senden lead the team in points (three).
"We have depth scoring right now — a variety of players can put the puck in the net," Fryklund said. "That's a really good thing, and it's something we haven't had in recent years when we've relied on players to play a lot of minutes. It's good to see that depth scoring. Any one of our lines or pairings can put the puck in the net, and that's exciting four games into the season."
It's also a noteworthy weekend in goal for Bemidji State. Sophomore goaltender Sophia Villanueva, who has made all four starts this season, is expected to play against her former team. Villanueva transferred from Minnesota Duluth after appearing in just three games for the Bulldogs last season behind Gascon. Villanueva has posted a .903 save percentage and a 3.52 goals-against average for the Beavers.
"She's a pro," Fryklund said. "I have no concerns over how she'll handle that. She just wants to play and stop pucks, and do the best she can for her teammates. How she handles that with her competitive nature will serve her really well this weekend."
The series kicks off at 6 p.m. on Friday, with Game 2 to follow at 3 p.m. on Saturday.